The Nurturing Programs, by Dr. Stephen J. Bavolek, are designed expressly for preventing and treating child abuse and neglect. They were originally tested through research and demonstration projects supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, and are now in use throughout the United States and in other countries worldwide.

There are currently several versions of the program, three of which have been translated into Spanish. Included are versions that are specific to the age of the child, beginning with a prenatal program and ending with a program for parents of adolescents. There is also a program version designed for teenage parents and their families.

A unique feature of these Nurturing Programs is that they not only provide an array of creative teaching materials, including videos and games for training parents to be more effective and peaceful in raising their children, but they also include guidelines and materials for training children and adolescents to be more successful in their relationships with their parents and with others.

Thus, these programs provide training for all members of the family. In addition, several of the programs are designed to be taught as classes (group-based) and on a one-to-one basis through home visiting.

Another unique feature of these program is that Dr. Bavolek and his staff at Family Development Resources have researched and created the use of questionnaires and inventories on parenting attitudes and practices, such as the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI). These can be used to evaluate the impact of the Nurturing Programs, and they are included in the Instructor’s Kit for each of the programs. These inventories and questionnaires can also be used to evaluate other parenting programs, and they have been normed on both English and Spanish speaking families.

Dr. Bavolek has made it possible for you to create your own version of the Nurturing Program where its content and length can be adjusted to meet local, practical needs. This version is called Nurturing Skills for Parents and it can be supplemented with the videos that are part of the other nurturing programs and can be evaluated using the Nurturing Evaluation Tools. This option is also highlighted below.

The Nurturing Programs have won numerous awards and have been selected as evidenced-based model programs by such groups as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).

Several state social service agencies have adopted the programs, as have many community groups, and military service family support centers throughout the world.

Below you will find a list of all the Nurturing Programs. To view the materials included in each program, click on its title. You can order each program’s complete Instructor Kit and its Parent’s Handbooks through CICC’s online catalog.

Prenatal Program

Parents and Their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers (also in Spanish)

The ABCs for Parents – Children 4-5 years (Assuring Better Children)

Crianza con Cariño para Padres y Niños (Spanish version of program for Parents and Their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers)

Parents and Children, 5 - 11 years (also in Spanish)

Crianza con Cariño para Padres y Hijos (Spanish version of program for Parents and Their Children, 5 - 11 years)

Parents and Adolescents

Teenage Parents and Their Families

Nurturing Skills for Parents

Nurturing Program Videos

Program Evaluation Tools

Prenatal Program

The Prenatal Program® is a nine-session group-based program (each session 2 1/2 hours). Parents learn ways to bond with their baby by examining the adjustments to being pregnant, discussing the physical and emotional changes occurring, strengthening the bonds between the partners, learning ways to nurture oneself, and preparing for parenthood.

Parents also examine their parenting attitudes, learn non-hitting ways of discipline, practice infant massage, and develop their empathic awareness of their needs and their infants' needs.

Program Description

• A nine-session group-based program
• Each session lasts 2 ½ hours
• Parents receive illustrated Handbooks
• Facilitators use Activities Manual for Parents
• Expectant mom and partner attend

Parents Learn How To…

• Bond with their baby
• Nurture themselves and their partners
• Prevent drug-related birth defects
• Handle stress and anger
• Develop non-hitting attitudes
• Use Infant Massage
• Adjust to being pregnant
• Understand ages and stages of infant development
• Deal with physical and emotional changes
• Strengthen the bond with their partners

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Prenatal Program

Obtain Parent Handbook

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Parents and Their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers (Birth to 5 Years)

This is a 48-session home-based or 24-session group-based program. Parents learn about recognizing and understanding feelings, infant and child massage, nurturing parenting routines, alternatives to hitting, child development, and ways to build self-esteem and self- concept in self and children.

Program Description – Home Based

• Forty-eight 1 ½ hour sessions meet one day a week for 48 consecutive weeks.
• Parents and the Home Visitor work together for the first hour teaching nurturing parenting ideas and techniques.
• Parents, children and the Home Visitor work together for 30 minutes having fun and practicing skills.

Program Description – Group Based

• Twenty-four 2 ½ hour sessions meet one day a week for 24 weeks.
• Parents and children meet concurrently in two separate groups.
• Two facilitators run parents’ group; two facilitators plus two volunteers run the children’s group.
• Parents and children engage in a 3-minute Nurturing Time with games, songs, snacks and more.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Parents and Their Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers (includes English Home and Group Based Curricula)

Obtain Parent Handbook (English)

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ABC’s for Parents (Assuring Better Children) – English and Spanish versions

A seven-session parenting program for parents and children entering kindergarten.

Revised and updated. This program offers parents ways to increase their child’s self-esteem and self-concept. Parents and children meet in separate groups for two hours, once weekly for seven consecutive weeks.

Program Format

• Parents and children entering Kindergarten meet in separate groups for two hours, once weekly, for seven consecutive weeks.
• Parents learn about nurturing parenting skills and ways to encourage their children’s success through good communication and life skills.
• Children learn comparable skills at age-appropriate levels through puppets, role- play, music, art activities and leader-led discussions.

Program Description

• Establish discipline through family rules, rewards and alternatives to spanking and yelling.
• Praise themselves and their children.
• Express their anger and stress in healthy ways that do not hurt themselves and their children.
• Use their personal power to make healthy choices.
• Promote school success through relationships with teachers.
• Problem solve and negotiate.
• Recognize warning signs of drug use and how to create a drug-free home.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for ABCs for Parents (English version)

Obtain Parent Handbook (English version)

Obtain Parent Handbook (Spanish version)

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Crianza con Cariño® para Padres y Niños

Crianza con Cariño (The Nurturing Programs for Parents and Their Children Birth to Five Years) was validated with Spanish-speaking families in Colorado, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Mexico, and Venezuela. Agencies serving Hispanic families of Puerto Rican, Mexican, Central and South American descent participated in the field-testing.

Program concepts and language have been carefully reviewed and edited by Hispanic professionals in human services to ensure that the nurturing parenting concepts are culturally sensitive, appropriate and accurately presented.

Parenting Videos

Produced in Spanish (not dubbed), these videos show families from a variety of national groups including Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and South Americans. The videos are divided into scenes that show real life parenting challenges. At the end of each scene, the viewer is invited to pause the video, consider what occurred, and brainstorm solutions. When the video resumes, the viewer sees a demonstration of parenting techniques useful for each situation. These nurturing strategies emphasize prevention: understanding the child’s needs and developmental stage, keeping conflicts from escalating, and fostering cooperation.

These videos can be used…

• in workshops and support groups for parents;
• as part of a complete Crianza program;
• in training programs for professionals.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Crianza con Cariño para Padres y Niños (Spanish)

Obtain Parent Handbook (Spanish)

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Parents and School-Age Children (5-11 Years)

This is a 15-session group-based program. Parents and children increase their empathy, learn nurturing ways to encourage appropriate behaviors, build self-concept and self- esteem, and learn to have fun as a family. This program was validated twice in each of six sites around the country with families identified as abusive and neglecting.

Program Description

• Fifteen 2 ½ hour sessions that meet one day a week for 15 consecutive weeks.
• Parents and children attend separate groups that meet concurrently.
• Two facilitators are needed to implement each of the parents and children’s programs.
• Activities Manuals detail each activity with goals, objectives and procedures.
• Home Practice Assignments reinforce new parenting practices.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Parents and School-Aged Children (English)

Obtain Parent Handbook (English)

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Crianza con Cariño® para Padres Y Hijos (Children 4 to 12 Years of Age)

Crianza con Cariño (The Nurturing Program for Parents and Their Children 4 to 12 Years) was validated with Spanish-speaking families in Colorado, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Mexico, and Venezuela. Agencies serving Hispanic families of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Central and South American descent participated in the field-testing. Program concepts and language have been carefully reviewed and edited by Hispanic professionals in human services to ensure that the nurturing parenting concepts are culturally sensitive, appropriate and accurately presented.

Parenting Videos

Produced in Spanish (not dubbed), these videos show families from a variety of national groups including Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Central and South Americans. The videos are divided into scenes that show real life parenting challenges. At the end of each scene, the viewer is invited to pause the video, consider what occurred, and brainstorm solutions. When the video resumes, the viewer sees a demonstration of parenting techniques useful for each situation. These nurturing strategies emphasize prevention: understanding the child’s needs and developmental stage, keeping conflicts from escalating, and fostering cooperation.

These videos can be used…

• in workshops and support groups for parents;
• as part of a complete Crianza program;
• in training programs for professionals.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Crianza con Cariño para Padres y Hijos (Spanish)

Obtain Parent Handbook (Spanish)

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Parents and Adolescents

This is a 12-session group-based program. Families learn nurturing communication strategies, how to recognize each other's needs, how to understand the period of adolescence, and ways to build their own personal power, self-esteem, and self-concept.

Families also discuss pregnancy delay, sex, sexuality, AIDS, suicide, and peer pressure. Parents and teens from throughout the country participated in the validation process.

Program Description

• Twelve three-hour sessions that meet one day a week for 12 consecutive weeks.
• Parents and their teenage children (13 to 19 years) attend the program together.
• Each three-hour session is designed for adults and adolescents to meet in two separate groups for the first 70 minutes. The 20-minute snack time allows parents and adolescents to share refreshments.
• The following 90 minutes are spent with parents and adolescents together in one large group.
• Each group is facilitated by two professionals.

Program Format

• Icebreaker and Check-In
• Nurturing Self Activities
• Snack Time
• Parenting and Communication Skills
• Visualization
• Home Practice Assignments
• Evaluation and Closing

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Parents and Adolescents

Obtain Parent Handbook

Obtain Adolescent Handbook

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Teen Parent Program

A 40-session home-based or 20-session group-based program. Teenage parents learn infant and child massage, developmental milestones of growth, how to have fun with their children, nurturing parenting routines, and ways to help children build their self-esteem and self- concept.

Teens also learn ways to delay pregnancy, handle peer pressure, sex, sexuality, and date rape, increase personal power, and build their own positive feelings of self. This program was validated by 12 agencies throughout the country providing services to teen parents.

Program Description-Home-Based

• Forty 1½ hour sessions that meet one day a week for 40 consecutive weeks.
• Parents meet with Home Visitor for the first hour to learn a new concept regarding self and parenting.
• Parents and children are engaged in Family Nurturing Time for the remaining 30 minutes.

Program Description-Group-Based

• Twenty 2 ½ hour sessions that meet one day a week for 20 consecutive weeks.
• Parents and children attend separate groups that meet concurrently, then enjoy 30 minutes of Family Nurturing Time together.
• The first 70 minutes address parenting skills and the remaining 50 minutes teach self-nurturing.

Obtain Complete Instructor Kit for Teenage Parents and Their Families

Obtain Parent Handbook

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Nurturing Skills for Parents

You can create your own version of this internationally recognized and validated program by using any of the 50 lessons from the program that are now available in a Lesson Guide for Professionals and a corresponding Parent Handbook. The Lesson Guide serves as a manual for the leader and it contains step-by-step instructions for conducting each session. The Parent Handbook supports each lesson and has the homework assignments.

You can supplement the program you create by using various videos that amplify the lessons taught, all of which are described below. You can also use the various parenting inventories to evaluate your program, and these are also mentioned below.

The 50 lessons you can choose from are described and presented within the following chapters of the Lesson Guide:

Getting Started and Assessment Goals
Lessons: Welcome, Hopes and Fears, Orientation, Assessing Parenting Strengths

Nurturing Parenting Philosophy
Lessons: Nurturing Parenting, Nurturing as a Lifestyle

Growth and Development of Children
Lessons: Children’s Brain Development, Expectations and Development of Children, Ages and Stages: Infant, Toddler, Preschooler Development, Skill Strips and Review, Nutrition and Mealtime, Toilet Training

Developing Empathy
Lessons: Developing Empathy, Parents’ and Children’s Needs, Spoiling Your Children, Infant and Child Massage

Managing and Expressing Feelings
Lessons: Recognizing and Understanding Feelings, Helping Children Learn to Handle Their Feelings, Understanding and Handling Stress, Understanding and Expressing Anger

Understanding Discipline
Lessons: Understanding Discipline, Developing Family Morals and Values, Developing Family Rules, Child Proofing Your Home

Rewarding Appropriate Behavior
Lessons: Rewarding Children and Their Behavior, Praising Children and Their Behavior

Punishing Inappropriate Behavior
Lessons: Punishing Children’s Behavior, Time-Out

Alternatives to Spanking
Lessons: Why Parents Spank Their Children, Helping Children Manage Their Behavior, Verbal and Physical Direction, Ignoring Inappropriate Behaviors, and Alternatives to Spanking.

Developing Nurturing Routines
Lessons: Establishing Nurturing Parenting Routines - Diapering and Dressing, Feeding Time, Bath Time, and Bed Time

Building Self Worth & Personal Power in Children
Lessons: Improving Children’s Self-Worth, Building Personal Power, People, Possessions and Positive Self-Talk

Making Good Choices: Drugs, Sex and Alcohol
Lessons: Our Bodies, Sex, AIDS, Touch and Personal Space, Families and Alcohol

Communications Skills
Lessons: Criticism and Confrontation, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Negotiation and Compromise

Increasing Parents’ Self Awareness
Lessons: Body Map: Examining Touch History, Self-Expression

Obtain the $25.00 Lesson Guide for Professionals

The corresponding Parent Handbook is composed of the following lessons that the instructor teaches:

• Philosophy of Nurturing Parenting
• Growth and Development of Children
• Developing Empathy
• Managing and Expressing Feelings
• Discipline
• Rewarding Appropriate Behavior
• Punishing Inappropriate Behavior
• Alternative to Spanking
• Nurturing Parenting Practices
• Building Self-Worth and Personal Power
• Communications Skills

Obtain the $13.50 Parent Handbook

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